BAFTA Nominations Analysis: The King’s Speech Reigns

BAFTA Nominations Analysis: The King's Speech Reigns

The BAFTAAwards, the British equivalent of the Oscars, have announced their nominations, dominated, natch, by Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech with fourteen. The film presumably has already made a strong showing on Oscar ballots which were due last Friday.

Of course the Academy’s British faction will favor The King’s Speech, which lost the Golden Globe for drama Sunday night to Oscar frontrunner The Social Network, which scored six BAFTA nominations; it was snubbed in many technical categories, which could also happen when Oscar nominations arrive January 25. The King’s Speech‘s BAFTA mentions include best film, best director, best British film, and acting nods for Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter.

Another entry directed by Brit Danny Boyle, 127 Hours, which has been struggling to overcome its subject matter of a man trapped under a boulder, did well with seven nods. Its American distrib, Fox Searchlight, also scored 12 nominations for Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, which is flourishing at the box office. Also with 12 noms is Brit director Chris Nolan’s Inception. David O. Russell’s The Fighter didn’t make the best picture list, but landed noms for screenplay and supporting actor (Christian Bale) and supporting actress (Amy Adams); Critics Choice and Golden Globe winner Melissa Leo did not make the cut. Lesley Manville wound up in the supporting actress category for Mike Leigh’s Another Year, while True Grit‘s Hailee Steinfeld was lead. Both Annette Bening and Julianne Moore will compete for best actress for The Kids Are All Right. The late Pete Postlethwaite grabbed a posthumous nomination for supporting actor for The Town.

And animated feature Despicable Me has yet again turned up in the third slot behind Toy Story 3 and How to Train Your Dragon.

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Zhao said with her Bass Reeves biopic, she’ll direct a more traditional cast like she did with her first-timers: “You can work with an actor in a certain way, you can create an environment like Terrence Malick has always done.”